An End To Normalcy
by silver starlight serpant
Summary: AU Starting at the end of Season One. Rachel, Jesse, Will and Shelby all meet up again as part of the cast of the summer production of Next to Normal. St. Berry/Shell others.


**Disclaimer****- I wish I owned St. Berry and the music to Next to Normal, Sadly I don't so no worries.**

**Prologue**

**AUDITIONS**

**Saturday 18****th**

**Female Auditions will be held from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M**

**Male Auditons will be from 1:00 P.M to 3:00 P.M.**

**Auditions will be held at the Akron Community Theatre for their annual Summer Production.**

**This year's production will be **_**Next to Normal.**_

_**9 St. James Place, Akron**_

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As Rachel re-read the classified ad in the Lima Heights Daily she couldn't help but think that this would be a great way to spend her summer. School would be over in less than a week and Rachel planned to spend her summer doing something noteworthy. What better way to banish the thoughts of he-who-must not-be-named from her mind and her failed attempt at rekindling a relationship with Finn than to immerse herself in a role? (She and Finn had lasted for a grand total of a week and half before he went running back to Quinn.)

She owned the soundtrack to Next to Normal and had thought it was the best thing since Duncan Sheiks Spring Awakening. The role of Natalie would be challenging (Natalie was the only other female role besides Diana and she was definitely not old enough to play somebody's mother). Natalie had just about as much drama going on in her life as Rachel did trying to balance academics with her life at home. Thinking about it Rachel and Shelby's relationship kind of reminded her of Natalie and Diana. Rachel hadn't seen Shelby since Sectionals or spoken to her since their disastrous meeting in the auditorium. Shaking her head to rid herself of thoughts of Shelby and Vocal Adrenaline she focused again on the ad in front of her.

There was only one problem with this plan of hers. The drive to Akron one way was a minimum of two hours away but she figured she would deal that roadblock when the time came. If she actually got the role she and her parents could work at temporary arrangements and a two hour commute wasn't really that bad.

Already planning out audition songs in her head Rachel left the kitchen to go call Kurt.

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Looking at Carmel's Performing Arts Bulletin Board the purple leaflet tacked to a corner immediately caught the attention of one Jesse St. James. Initially Jesse had come in search for the date of a specific concert in the park but could not keep his eye from wandering to the flyer. The Bold-face type and flashy stars were hard to miss combined with the purple background.

Next to Normal was a current favorite of his. A couple of months ago he had gone down to the City to go see it with his sister Julia. They had loved it, at the end visiting the stage door to get their playbills signed. Meeting Alice Ripley, Jennifer Damiano and Aaron Tveit just reinforced his wish to one day be on Broadway like that. Joining this production would not only allow him to flex his acting muscles before going off to UCLA but it also had the bonus perk distracting himself from the guilt that was slowly eating him alive, ever since the Egg Incident Jesse had been drowning in a sea of guilt.

Jesse had chosen a fourth national title and his scholarship to UCLA over Rachel. The feeling of having made the wrong choice had been haunting his every waking thought and dream. Desperate to escape Jesse had thrown himself into rehearsals making sure that his sacrifice had not been in vain. Seeing Rachel sing Faithfully with Hudson was so painful to watch It had fueled Jesse performance with a depth of emotion that he had never had before.

This would be the perfect project for Jesse to push all thoughts of one Rachel Barbara Berry from his mind until he was on the other side of the country. Shoving the flyer into his pocket Jesse walked away thoughts of Rachel filling his mind.

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Staring at her computer screen Shelby focused again on the email in front of her. Shelby knew everybody who was anybody in the world of Ohio's Performing Arts Community so it was no surprise that she knew about the upcoming production of Next to Normal. What was a surprise was the fact that she was considering trying out for it. Ever since her failed attempt at getting on Broadway Shelby had dropped all notions of acting or getting on stage again in a non-educating fashion. Now that it was summer Shelby had a whole three months of nothing to do. She needed a change of pace from spending the last four years slaving over Vocal Adrenaline and her horrible attempt at reuniting with Rachel.

Looking at the picture sitting next to her computer Shelby couldn't help but marvel at what Rachel had become. She was beautiful, talented, smart, and still possessed the kind of innocence that everything would one day fall into it's proper place. In essence she was everything Shelby had ever hoped for, Rachel was perfect. She had been afraid, afraid of not being a good enough mom, of tainting Rachel with her jaded ways, afraid of finding her only to lose her again, so she had stupidly made the mistake of trying to separate herself from Rachel. It was impossible, for the second time Shelby had given Rachel away. Not only has she hurt herself and Rachel she had also dragged Jesse into her mess. He was a good kid if not a bit arrogant for his good, but he had loved Rachel she could see it in his eyes and his actions. They were both in the same boat watching from afar while at the same time trying to forget.

She had contemplated adopting the baby girl of the blonde cheerleader but had decided against it. All her fears from Rachel resurfaced and the fact of the damage that she had just caused to her 16 year old biological daughter there was no telling what irreparable damage she could do to a baby girl. Shelby needed to put her life back on track and maybe rekindle her lost dreams. The first step on that road would be to go to this audition.

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Will Schuester's life was slowly coming together again. After the rollercoaster ride that was Sectionals and the disbanding of the Glee Club Will was sure that life as he knew it was over. Imagining school without Glee would be inconceivable, during the past months rehearsals had become the bright spot of his day. Then came Sue's sudden turnabout not that she had changed, either she was hiding the fact that she had a heart behind her hatred of glee, or she was simply buying time to construct an even more devious plan. (Will 's money was on the latter)

Now that his divorce was final he was a free man. Since jumping directly into a relationship with Emma had failed, he was planning on taking some time to rediscover himself again. His old friend Bryan Ryan had called and informed him of the new production the ACT was putting on this summer and that auditions were on the 28th. He had decided that this was just what the doctor needed, a chance to experience the life he once dreamed of having.

**Authors Notes**

All comments welcome. This is my first fic. The plot has been bugging me for several days and I just love St. Berry and Next to Normal. I would love suggestions on the plot, characters etc. Does anybody know anything about how shows are run and the audition process? Am I forgetting something? Please Help.

Pairings- (It's a bad habit but this is always what I search for first)- St. Berry, Shell, Kurt/Blaine


End file.
